Steam Railroading Institute (PM 1225 folks) are running 16-car trains this year for their North Pole Express. All pretty much sold out in July, and 1225 has missed the first 2 weekends...so yeah, there's money to be made if marketed and executed properly.

There are a couple of factors to consider here. Mt Rainier Scenic RR did an excellent podcast on Christmas Trains, and this is one of the things they touched on. "It doesn't matter when the trains sell out, as long as they sell out."

Personally, I could even argue that having them sell out only a few weeks or even days before the event is better for patrons. It has to be annoying to want to take your family on the train ride only to find out that since you didn't sign up for the trips back in June and win the lottery, no train ride for you.

I run a fan group for a local Ren Faire. One of the biggest complaints is when things sell out too far in advance. Our camping sold out in a few hours, then for six months we'd get people complaining "I don't know my July schedule in January, that's not fair!" and then the same as tickets sold out. They added capacity and now there are far less disappointed guests.

Obviously CVSR did the math and they are of the opinion that the new approach is better. It's apparently working, I just checked the website and all of the trains are sold out.

Could they make more revenue with more trains? Well, you'd certainly think so. But they must have a reason for the choices they've made. I know that many railroads feel that the licensing fees take up too much of the revenue. What other factors are in play here I can't say. Maybe the expense of having mutiple stations and crew and equipment aren't worth the added revenue when you factor it all in. I don't know their operations, so I can't really say, but I doubt they'd intentionally change to less revenue without having a compelling reason to do so.

I know that CVSR seems to be an expert at it. I recall reading about their Polar Express trains in either trains or railfan, and the sheer volume of passengers and the logistics involved was massive. So they've definitely been there and done that. The fact they no longer do it implies they feel it's not worth the massive crunch required.

Brand association is worth something too. Do you have a deal with Coca Cola or Pepsi even though you could buy the off-brand at Wal-Mart for cheaper?

That doesn't mean the Polar Express licensing is always the right choice - but it's something to consider.

Grand Canyon Railway, Colorado Railroad Museum, Durango, Spencer, etc. are certainly operations that know what they are doing - and the investment certainly appears to be paying off for all of them.

Here's the full list of licensed operations if anyone is curious - https://www.raileventsinc.com/polar-express-train-ride/the-polar-express-train-ride-locations/

In response to Brother Harbison, I've long said that the objective of perfect "outreach" marketing is to sell the last available ticket to an event or concert five minutes before, or as, it starts. You sell out, but everyone who wants to attend badly enough gets a chance.

I have real problems with any museum or preservation event, even a fundraiser, being on the same par as major rock concerts, expensive as all get-out and difficult-to-impossible to snare tickets for unless one vies months in advance. Certainly, it's a big extravaganza, worth the big bucks and effort--we hope--but I sympathize for the folks who can't plan that far in advance, and/or don't have that kind of money to spend. (Yes, my ire extends to trying to book lodging at seashores, Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon as well.)

If I were on a railroad that was planning such a grand-scale event, I would make a lot of effort to be "inclusive" and also run a scaled-down "Santa Train" for the locals--maybe the Santa trains at noon to two and the Polar Express in the evenings? Although I suspect the conditions of the Polar Express franchise prohibit that?

Another example of Christmas train marketing just crossed my e-mail feed a few minutes ago:

The Verde Canyon RR has apparently trademarked the name "Magical Christmas Journey":

https://verdecanyonrr.com/magical-christmas-journey/

Interesting find! I'm kinda surprised they were able to get a trademark for such a generic name.

Try using the name "Wine Train" and you'll soon find Napa valley sending a cease and desist order for violating their trademark. Might want to have a bunch of non-profit railroads get together and trademark a bunch of generic names with the understanding that anyone can use them to prevent bad actors in the future.

With all due respect to the Napa Valley folks for creating the concept, this shows just how broken the trademark system really is. There is no way that something as generic as "Wine Train" should be a trademark. It is, I'm aware of that, but it seems rather unreasonable. They are not the only Wine Train in existence. Well, then again, I guess they are, they have it trademarked.

What's next, will somebody trademark "Dinner Train" as well?

Off to Trademark "Beer Train" before somebody screws that up...

The New Hope Railroad has an ad for their Santa's North Pole Express but it seems like they're just inviting a lawsuit by having a song from The Polar Express movie playing during their ad https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1DZCFLarxh/

You can bet that song has a registered copyright. I certainly wouldn't think the Polar Express folks would grant a sync license to a competitor but you never know....

That seems to be a promo from Visit Bucks County, which is the country's tourism agency. New Hope's actual North Pole Express ad is this: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/12LuH4mf2Xf/

Monticello: https://www.facebook.com/railwaymuseum/ ... hyMhSxUrNl
I actually have no idea what the film is about, and this clip didn't help.

The Little Engine That Could will enter the public domain at midnight on January 1 (per the the Internet Archive's Bluesky account.)